Britain facing 'deeper recession'

Britain is facing a recession "deeper than any that we have known", a Cabinet minister has warned.

Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, issued the stark forecast as she defended London's bid for the 2012 games.

Her remarks were immediately seized upon by the Tories as a "stunning admission" of the scale of the economic difficulties the UK is in.

They were made in response to concern about the £9.325 billion budget for London 2012 as the country slides into recession.

Challenged as to whether the Government should have pursued the bid in the first place, Ms Jowell told BBC2's The Daily Politics: "We certainly were right. We were right to go because of the sporting legacy that the Olympics will create.

"But, as it turns out, facing a recession deeper than any that we have known, almost certainly, the Olympics is, I mean, it's economic gold at a time of economic need.

"It is creating jobs not just in the East End of London, but also creating business and commercial opportunities for firms right around the country. It is a £6 billion shot in the arm."

The Chancellor has been predicting that the economy would return to growth in the second half of 2009.

Mr Osborne said: "This is a stunning admission of the true disaster that Gordon Brown and the Labour Government has visited on the country. For months they tried to pretend that Britain would be better off than previous recessions. Now someone who sits round Gordon Brown's Cabinet table admits that it will be worse."